Zhang Ziyi to retire from martial arts

22 Jan – Zhang Ziyi recently announced that she would be retiring from martial arts films, sparking speculations that the actress is marrying her rumoured boyfriend, CCTV's Sa Beining.

However, as reported on Popular Asians, the actress recently denied the rumours, and revealed, "I didn't have much experience with martial arts while filming a fight scene for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", so I didn't know how to relax my muscles. As a result, I injured a tendon in my neck."

"Then while fighting with a heavy stick on "House Of Flying Daggers", I used so much force on the stick that it flew backwards and knocked me out cold. When I woke up, all eyes were on me. I was afraid that I would suffer from permanent damage. If that happened, I don't know how I will cope with that."

The actress continued, "It was finally after suffering from several injuries while filming "The Grandmaster" that I decided to not to star in martial arts films anymore. It's been 13 years since "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and it was the right time to close that chapter in my book."

When asked about love life, Ziyi hinted, "I was never the type of girl to fantasise about romance, but I do place great importance on love, and family will always be my priority. If I were to get married one day, I will share the happy news with the entire world. There's no point in letting people play a guessing game, because it's a joyous occasion."